"You can turn me over now. I'm done on this side."

I had a singular experience this week. My running group roasted me! Here's the roast, which shows up on their website. . ..

"To all who know Liz, and those who do not.... it is time we divulge some juicy details . . . This is allowed because it is now tradition. Anyone training... and I mean really training... for a marathon and making it to the starting line, is bait for the team to divulge the last six months... okay maybe year.... of (tasteful) training and racing stories about that person... so here it goes (Sorry this is not in Liz quiz format).

So, what can we all learn from Liz through all these months of training?

1. Watch for Ice
2. Don't lose your keys... or your phone... or your headlamp... or your directions.... or your watch.... or your water bottle.... or your purse..... or your coat with your car keys in it....
3. Travel and have fun. One of Liz's dreams is to travel to exotic, foreign lands and experience strange new cultures... like Arkansas.
4. Bring your own water.... because by drinking everyone elses, it will soon run out.
5. Parking lot ettiquette. It is not a coincidence that when Liz comes into the parking lot that everyone scatters to the curb.
6. Table manners. Everyone's water is Liz's unless there's a Ketchup bottle to separate and distiguish off limits.
7. Don't be late. We eventually leave you.
8. Pick a marathon and register a year early. Make sure you have friends there.
9. Runners trots, the true initiation of a "real" runner.
10. Rule WWSS: When choosing your running attire, ask yourself "What Would Scott Say"?
11. DOTS is a four letter word.
12. Sid's Run. He's just a man, not "sudden infant death syndrome".
13. Wear socks when you run.
14. Body Glide is your friend.
15. Meeting for lunch after the long run really is the best part of the run.
16. Don't go to a wedding "funeral" after running 24 miles.
17. Register for the toughest races. Make sure they're your firsts.
18. Who needs Gold's Gym, when you have running?
19. "I want to start working on speed after my marathon". She forgets that the fastest she could run 1 mile is 11:30 when she started, now she can do 8 min splits for 5K!
20. Text message your coach at 10pm to tell them you got some gladiator sandles or 3am to tell them you won't make the 5:30am run. See how much they like it. They may let "running shoes" slide though.
21. Stick to the program: Trust in your training and trust in yourself!

So this is what we've learned from Liz. We all love her and wouldn't know what to do without her there! If you know of any additions for the list, please divulge! info@teamapexrunningandwalking.com

Mike & Monica"

Ha! Ha! This has been me.

I found an e-harmony.com article today about the five personalities men most avoid in women. At one time or another, most of these have been me. And the windbag? Yeah. I still have windbag tendencies, especially when I'm nervous! But I've been better about tempering it lately.

Thank goodness for growing up!!

E

Blog as therapy

Coming this Saturday, is my official LAST wedding of the year! Woo hoo! Congrats, Joe and Becky, but may there be no more of these! At least not in 2008!
. . .update.

I found a quote that epitomizes my experience going to weddings and it perfectly explains the reason why they can be so emotional for me:

"[For single-and-searching females, weddings are]. . . kinda like making someone who is suffering from severe malnutrition go to a Sizzler and not letting them eat . . . Weddings are a flashy, neon sign showing the single everything they don't have: love, companionship, trust, and the guarantee (with the consent of both parties, of course) that you are going to have a baby."

There ya go! That pretty much sums it up! (In case you were wondering!)

As you can guess, the wedding on Saturday was pretty emotional for me, as shown by the fact that I spent the first hour of the reception locked in the unisex bathroom bawling my eyes out into my cell phone with my female trainer, Monica, trying to comfort me from the other end. Part of it, of course, was the 24 miles I had run that morning (in preparation for my marathon); I was tired, emotional, and somewhat delirious from exhaustion. Part of it was the fellow getting married and the five or six babies in attendance I had never met in the arms of other married friends who I hadn't seen since their weddings. The rest of it, though, was the doubt that nags inside of me everywhere I go: that my life's purpose has more to do with a job to be done than a person (or persons) to love. I've thought long and hard about this point: could I be happy and fulfilled as a single person? The answer: I don't know, but I can't see that reality right now. Can I be content not knowing what will happen? The answer: perhaps. Maybe. But it isn't something I'll accomplish on my own. :) There are a lot of questions. I think the best explanation of the process singles go through was printed in Christianity today. This magazine couched the experience of extended singleness as a grieving process rather than as a simply pity party:

"Older singles grieve the loss of their youth, lost years of love, and the children that they have not borne. The pain of extended singleness isn't so much coveting a relationship, but grieving lost dreams. If it is insensitive to tell a recent widow to be content in the midst of her loss, it is equally insensitive to say it to someone who is widowed by circumstance."

Of course, there are tons of other perspectives on this. Some much more positive and cheerful. I'll look through those, too. Perhaps, at some point, I'll see things in a more positive light. I'm not angry like I used to be: I think that's definitely an improvement. It's a process, and I'm just going through it, one step at a time. :)

To All the Beaux Who Never Were . . .

I was browsing on Youtube today. (Youtube browsing, shoe shopping, ticket buying . . .yeah, I have a little free time right now.) I came across this song I hadn't heard for a while. I thought I would post it because it expresses so well some of the feelings I've had over the past few years.

So, as I near the official end of my twenties, I lift a glass (and the chorus of this song) to all the fellows for whom I have held a flame between the age of 20 and now who, for one reason or another, either weren't in a situation where they could reciprocate and/or who didn't feel the same way. I'm not doing this bitterly, honestly! Some of the memories I have of getting to know these guys are truly special for me, and some of these guys are truly the special, wonderful people I came to know and like!

Luckily, none of them read this blog. At least, I don't think any of them do!

In any case, the chorus of this song mostly expresses my feelings but also is meant to express appreciation for those who helped make my twenties the growing experience it was.

May the thirties bring more men like them: but available and reciprocating! :)



Elisabeth

Tickets Bought: Marathon is a True Reality!

It's official! We're going to San Francisco, and I'm running the marathon!

My family just bought our tickets for San Francisco today. It's pretty exciting!



The only bit of sadness to mar this happy plan is that I have not yet heard from my sweet Misty about getting together when I'm there. I will be sad if I don't get to see her, but friendship is a two-way thing, and I've done everything I can. I'll miss her anyway, though.

Brian Regan Tidbit

Hello!

I have a couple of friends who went to see Brian Regan do his comedy thing here in Boise last weekend. I looked him up on youtube and, yeah, he's pretty funny!

Check this out: I think it's the best little clip I saw.



Liz

My New Shoes!

Aren't they so cute? I love them!

My Family and a Great Book

I have come to realize lately that there are members of my family who would like me better if I didn't have a graduate degree. They would approve of me more if I was married, had a couple of babies who took up all my time and energy instead of using that time and energy in selfish pursuits like running. They would like it if I had to use my financial resources to keep up with a mortgage and pay for pediatric doctor bills instead of using my extra money to pull myself out of grad school loan debt and to travel for races. Somehow, life would seem more fair if I had had to pay for my own college education and if I hadn't had half the advantages I have been fortunate enough to receive in this life. In other words: They would like me more if I was more like them; if I had to struggle as much as they have.

I don't think it's a bad thing that some of my family sees things this way. After all, My family lately has had to deal with diseases and the ensuing medical bills, deaths, odd jobs to make ends meet, etc. It's not that all those things are bad but, I can see, from the perspective of someone whose whole life has been caught up in the care of others for years and years, my lifestyle must appear to be very self-serving.
I would probably see it that way, too, if I were them. But, what should I say? Things are going well. Life right now is pretty short on misery. Should I try and make myself more miserable to make others happy? I don't think so. Perhaps there are ways I can serve, though, that I am not seeing. I should keep my eyes open for those opportunities, but I don't know of any other lessons I might take from some of my family members' reactions to me.

The Pigman and Me by Paul Zindel


More later

A New Look, A New Blog

Hello, all!

I know it has been forever and a day since my last post. I'll do a quick up-date and then move right along.

News

We lost my grandpa a couple of months ago. It was very difficult for the whole family, but everyone agrees that it was probably his time. That is part of the reason that I have not written in a while. That was a very difficult and sad time.

Running

It's coming right along! I run my first 10-mile run today . . .and its raining like gangbusters! Knowing my running trainers, that won't matter. We do what we have to do and we run even in the driving snow. (I've done that a few times!)

My female trainer, Monica, has got me taking a prenatal vitamin in the morning and an iron supplement in the evening. We're getting into the serious training phase now and she absolutely wants to make sure I'm getting the vitamins I need. That means drinking lots of water, going on very long runs, and watching what I eat. It will be great for my figure but I get tired and spent at times! The marathon is only 5 months away!

Finishing Up the Masters

We're in the home stretch! I've started on the two of the last five credits I need to take! I'm doing my homework diligently. Now, I'm trying to convince my professors to be on my committee so I can graduate in July. We'll see how that goes!

Love
Elisabeth

A Long Update . . . Though it Won't Be So Long

Hello, all!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I've written. In the last three months, we have undergone three tragedies . . .well, one is an actual tragedy while the other two were simply potential tragedies. One ended badly, while the other two ended somewhat miraculously.

First, and I hate talking about this, we lost Wesley. I had taken him to my running group with me a few weeks before Christmas and, when I opened the car door and took Wesley's leash in my hand, he burst through the air like a bullet, yanking the leash right out of my hand. From there, it was only a short time before he had found his way into the street and under the wheels of a car. We rushed him to animal emergency room, advised them to resuscitate if it came to that and, two or three resuscitation attempts later, they lost him. I was, and still am, heartbroken. I am in no position to get another dog, and won't be for at least a year or two. I'm very sad about this but, as you can see, there is nothing I can do now.

The day after Wesley died, I came home to hear that my dad had been hit by a car. I would have freaked out, except it was my dad who was telling me. Apparently, he had been crossing a street when a woman who was making a left turn but looking right, turned right into him. He rolled up on to the car and he smacked his ankle, but he was completely okay otherwise. The lady apologized and called him in a few minutes to see if he had gotten home okay, but that was all. My dad says that he is very grateful that the car was a Cadillac with a low hood: An SUV would have pulled him under the wheels. But, as it was, his only injury some mild ankle pain a week later. My mom made him go to the doctor, she revoked his walking-home-in-the-dark privileges for two days (which is as long as her influence would last) and he now has to wear a reflective vest when he goes out at night, but otherwise he is just fine. We are thanking our lucky stars, as I'm sure that lady is, too.

Our last potential tragedy happened on New Years Day this year. My grandpa has been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years and, up until now, he has lived with my grandma up in the mountains. On New Year's Eve, my grandpa got up while my grandma was sleeping, somehow disengaged the alarm that had been set for this purpose, and went out into the -3 degree weather in only his pajama bottoms and his T-shirt. Grandma woke up at about 5:30 the next morning and went crazy trying to look for him. She called the police and, before long, the sherriff's deputy had found him just a few feet from the cabin, unconscious in a snow bank, and suffering from severe hypothermia and frostbite. (Grandma had run right past him looking.) They called my parents at about 6 am and by 9:00 am they had life-flighted him to St. Alphonsus and six of us -- my parents, my cousin, Adam, my uncle Barney and Aunt Linda, and me, were all in the emergency room drinking coffee and trying to carry on polite conversation. Before long, it became clear that Grandpa was not going to live: his body temperature was so low that the hospital's instruments couldn't measure it. They started therapy, but told us that he would almost certainly die as soon as his body temperature hit about 90 degrees; It is at that temperature, they told us, that all the dead skin cells start to release toxins into the body, and those toxins kill the person. We waited. By four or five hours later, the entire family had shown up at the hospital, including Grandma, who had finally made it from Cascade. Grandpa's body temperature had made it to 98.6 and he was still alive. He was breathing with a ventilator, but he was still alive.

First hurdle done.

Now it was a matter of what he would lose: They told us there was a good chance that his hands and feet, his nose, and his ears would have to be amputated. We waited.

By the next morning, it had become clear that, somehow, the frostbite on his nose and ears seemed to be clearing up on its own. Wow!

One more day

They took out the ventilator and moved him from ICU to the surgery ward.

Hurdle #2 is crossed.

Now it's a question of how much of his hands and feet will have to go. Yesterday (Friday), I was there when they dressed his hands and when the Occupational Therapist checked the range of motion in his hands. According to her, he has almost all of his range of motion, which is good, she said. I have no idea what that means, but we can only hope!

It will be a couple of weeks before they will be able to tell how much of his hands and feet will have to go. In the meantime, he will be in St. Alphonsus and then in the Veterans hospital, which is not even a half-mile from where I live. I'll get to visit him after work! The only problem is that he doesn't recognize me. Every time I have seen him and told him who I was, he has expressed surprise that I'm so old. I guess in his mind, I am still a little girl. He doesn't think I'm almost 30. :) I don't mind. He says, "You're one of my sweethearts" when I tell him, "I love you, Grandpa!" After all, he's a gentleman and he wouldn't want to insult me by refusing to believe that he was my grandpa. He told the nurses yesterday that they fit right in with the family. They were flattered, but I think he meant that he couldn't tell who was in his family and who wasn't. :) The nurses are head-over-heels in love with Grandpa. His Alzheimer's self is nothing but sweetness.

But, that's not to say that good stuff hasn't happened too!

I recently discovered that I am only 5 credits away from a masters. I just signed up for two of those credits. Woo hoo! The only problem is that the cost of the classes (which I didn't anticipate until I made a casual check into how many credits I had left in the masters program I had already started a couple of weeks ago.) along with the cost of paying down my student loans as fast as possible has left me BROKE. But that's balanced out by the fact that I will get my student loans paid off in only a year-and-a-half or so. I think I can make it by then, when you figure in the raise I will get in the fall.

SO. That's everything. School is fun, but exasperating in so many ways! I worked all through the break but I'm still SO NOT READY!! AAAAA! :) But I'm a lot more ready than I would otherwise be!

More later!

Elisabeth